This invention relates to shopping cart impovements, specifically to a magnetically receptive, planar carrier plate, rotatably attached to the shopping cart handle bar, providing working surfaces for magnetically mounting, portable shopping accessories.
The use of shopping lists in grocery stores is almost universal and at any time, in almost any grocery store, one can observe shoppers trying to maneuver their carts, open display doors, and pick items from the shelves while unsatisfactorily trying to accommodate the use of their shopping lists, coupons, pens and calculators. Over the years there have been many attempts to address the problem of what to do with one""s shopping accessories while one actually shops. The attempted solutions of the past have all had various shortcomings as must be evident by the fact that a problem experienced by almost every shopper remains with us today.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,204 to Theodore F. Keller (Nov. 10, 1970) shows one attempted solution using a clipboard. His extruded plastic device uses an integrated clip to secure a shopping list and pencil and provide a writing platform for the shopper, however it lacks robustness because of its plastic construction, is accessible to a child in the cart""s child seat and is relatively expensive to make.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,319 to Guy C. Day (Nov. 23, 1976) primarily describes a check writing surface with no means for securing any accessories, and when in use interferes with access to the upper bin of the shopping cart which also doubles as the collapsible child""s seat area.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,318 to George C. Economy (May 29, 1979), Mr. Economy shows an attachment constructed as an integral unit of synthetic material that has a flat upper surface with means such as a biasing clamp for releasably holding a shopper""s list and pencil. It, like Day""s patent, also interferes with the use and function of the upper bin/child seat area of the cart because the attachment spans the top of the child seat from the top of the cart basket to the back of the seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,888 to William D. Addison (Jan. 3, 1984) does describe a permanent planar shopping cart attachment that rotates from a horizontal position when in use to a suspended position for storage, however, Addison, also relies on clips on one surface to secure a shopping list and coupons. This device can only be useful in the horizontal position where it is accessible to an occupant of the child seat. If this attachment were rotated around the handlebar to the suspended vertical position, the side on which the shopping list and coupons are clipped would now be uselessly on the side opposite the shopper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,058 to Garrett R. Harris and Francis T. Harris (Jun. 29, 1985) shows a detachable shopper""s helper assembly comprised of a flat rigid board of pressed-board, wood, plastic, etc., divided into three main areas. The xe2x80x9chelperxe2x80x9d is clipped onto the handle bar of the cart and provides the shopper with a clipboard for a shopping list, a shallow bin for coupons and another spring clip for a pen or pencil.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,504 to Lois Owlett (Apr. 23, 1985) shows a flexible purse like device that is suspended by a flap folded over the cart""s handlebar.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,050 to LaRue D. Small (May 10, 1988) describes yet another shopping cart clipboard attachment. One member of this permanently mounted clipboard is clamped to one of the vertical walls of the shopping cart. Although the attachment is metallic and pivotally mounted, it still relies on the use of a mechanical spring clip to secure the notepad and pencil to the attachment. Like the others, it restricts access to the upper bin area or child seat and it is within easy reach of small hands if the child seat is occupied. In addition, it is unusable to the shopper when rotated away from the child seat area and into the vertical storage position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,353 to Arthur D. Krebs (Aug. 22, 1989) describes another grocery shopper organizer which is a generally flat board adapted to support coupons for groceries on the top surface of the board as well as other accessories such as a shopping list, calculator, pen, etc. The board is detachably mounted on the upper edge of any upright wall of the cart by an open-bottom channel strip on the bottom surface of the board near the front edge. The board acts as a counterweight and the accessory is precariously mounted in an inclined position as the channel locks onto the top of an upright wall. Krebs shows the use of Velcro-like material, a pencil clip and elastic bands to secure the usual shopping accessories. This inventor does address the problem of a small child in the cart seat, but his solution is to mount the organizer extending outwardly from the shopping cart into aisle space where it would be easily dislodged.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,252 to Wayne Kraper (Apr. 2, 1991) shows another flat surface attachment. In addition to providing a check writing surface, the flat surface partition is designed as a security barrier to actually cover the bin area/child seat so that a shopper may place personal items such as a purse or calculator beneath the partition to thwart purse snatchers.
U.S. Pat. 5,154,330 to William C. Haynes (Oct. 13, 1992), Haynes teaches a magnetically mounted shopping list holder that is transported from the ubiquitous refrigerator door to the super market, where it is then precariously attached to a top rail of a shopping cart. The fastening mechanism incorporates a swivel eye, hook and shank, and mounting rod to attach the clipboard to the cart.
None of these examples of prior art suggests the simplicity of my solution. A permanently attached magnetically receptive carrier plate that is rotatably secured around the handlebar of a shopping cart providing a simple, uncluttered surface for the magnetic attachment of desired shopping accessories. Since the advent of inexpensive adhesively secured magnetic tape, more and more products are being marketed for magnetic attachment to convenient vertical magnetically receptive surfaces such as refrigerator doors and filing cabinets. There are a wide variety of magnetically mounted clips, holders and shopping lists such as the ones marketed by DayRunner. Because my shopping cart carrier plate is magnetically receptive, it needs no clips, clamps, bands, bins, Velcro, hooks and eyes, etc., to secure desired magnetic shopping accessories. The carrier plate is not only useful in a generally horizontal position, but also when it is suspended vertically from the shopping cart""s handlebar. In this configuration the magnetic mount accessories are safely positioned out of the reach of a child in the child""s seat but yet remain easily accessible to the shopper. Since both surfaces of the rotatable carrier plate are magnetically receptive and the plate can be used in multiple positions, no area of useful shopping cart space is sacrificed.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are:
(a) to provide a permanent, inexpensive, weatherproof and durable shopping cart carrier plate improvement that provides two flat magnetically receptive surfaces;
(b) to provide a carrier plate improvement for magnetically mounting portable shopping accessories such as a notepad/coupon holder, pencil, calculator, personal digital assistant etc.;
(c) to eliminate the aggravation and inconvenience of juggling a pen, list, and calculator while maneuvering a shopping cart, opening freezer doors, grasping selected articles for purchase and placing them in the cart;
(d) to provide a carrier plate for magnetically attaching accessories that are handy to the shopper when mounted on the carrier plate""s first surface when in a horizontal position, and are also easily accessible when hanging in a vertical orientation attached to the opposite or second surface of the carrier plate;
(e) to eliminate the inferior and costly methods of the past portable inventions relying on various combinatorial deployments of clips, clamps, bins, pockets, Velcro, elastic bands, hooks and eyes etc. to secure the accessories to their attachments, and the attachments to the shopping cart;
(f) to provide an carrier plate that permits full use of the cart""s carrying capacity;
(g) to provide a carrier plate that can be easily retrofitted to existing conventional carts or included by the original equipment manufacturer;
(h) to provide a carrier plate that preserves the ability of conventional shopping carts to be stored in the familiar nesting or telescoping space saving manner;
(i) to provide a laterally movable carrier plate improvement that is convenient to use by both left and right handed shoppers;
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.